Thursday, June 30, 2011

Apparently every year Running USA comes out with a report on running statistics and I just happened to come across them this year. The report has pretty much everything you could ever want to know about running quite frankly. Here are some of the fun facts about runners in the US! (Sorry guys, I only listed the female stats, just because there are so few of you out there, if any that read this particular blog.) All information comes from Running USA, to see a complete listing of data go to their website.

Top Walk/Run Fundraisers Programs by Revenue
Relay for Life: $416.5 mil
Race for the Cure: $121.9 mil
March for Babies: $102.3 mil
Team in Training: $97 mil

Eats

Breakfast this morning looks a little something like this...

Mix the chia seeds, plain yogurt, chocolate granola and strawberries up and it's ready to go!

Fitness

I've been doing a pretty good job of following my weekly fitness plan so far! I've even actually been adding some extra activities in there, primarily biking because it's been so GoRgEoUs outside lately! Yesterday after lunch I went for a 40 minute bike ride and found myself basking in the beauty of our local (La Crosse) biking path.

And I found myself getting a little sad, because pretty soon I won't get to see this path anymore. Luckily though, when I move back to Eau Claire, they also have some paths, but I prefer La Crosse's to Eau Claire's any day. I love that La Crosse's path goes through the marsh and there are always tons of animals to check out and that it takes you from the river to the bluffs!

Anyway I am heading out to go lifting soon, as the plan calls for :) On another note, I am super excited for my basketball game tonight! This is the second summer I have played in this league and I love it because my teammates are all from the WIAC (the conference I played in for college basketball), most of them are from back in my time of playing. We have added some younger ones just because a lot of the older players (and I do mean players my age - 24ish) are engaged, working in another city, etc and cannot always make it. Plus we have to keep up with all the current WIAC/college players that are in the league! Our team was kind of given a special "in" to the league since the guy who runs the league knew we would be pretty competitive since our team is made up of All-Conference players and Players of Year, that kind of thing. SO excited! Enough of my blabber about my glory days ;) TGIAF! Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Staying on track with my weekly fitness plan I went for my run this morning. Instead of a long slow run though, I did a modified pyramid track run.

Modified Pyramid Full Pyramid

Warm up: 400, dynamic stretch Warm up: 800, dynamic stretch

800 800

600 * 600 600 * 600

400 400 * 400 * 400

200 * 200 200 * 200 * 200 * 200

Cool down: 800, stretch Cool down: 800, stretch

I was very proud of myself for taking the time to cool down and stretch today, I'm terrible at doing this, even though this is what I preach with my program designs. That is the one area I need to get better at as far as "practice, what you preach" goes. I did about 5 minutes of abs after stretching on the turf too. I think I was okay taking my time stretching and doing abs because it was SO gorgeous out this morning!

For those of you who are not familiar with Gotein, it is protein stick pack formulated for use in a standard water bottle for active individuals that are on the go all the time! It comes in three flavors, all in which one lucky winner will get to try, strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla!

I could tell you everything that is on the informational sheet that Gotein sent me, but that just wouldn't be fair. So how DID I like it? Well yesterday I tried the strawberry Gotein in just water. It kind of reminded me a little of strawberry milk as a kid. I wasn't crazy about that particular flavor (I think I'd like it better in a smoothie), but I did like how it mixed in so well! I never came across any chunks or chalky residue, not even at the bottom of my cup, which I always dread. It was incredibly convenient, like Gotein claims, to just toss the packet into a water bottle and head out the door while shaking it. There was nothing messy about or difficult about it. This morning after my workout I used half of a Gotein packet in a smoothie (I much prefer eating it this way)! Adding this made my smoothie much more hearty, thick and it gave my smoothie the perfect hint of chocolate! Mmmm, mmm, mmm!

Aside from aside from those things, I am pretty impressed by the nutrition label. On average each pack (depends on the flavor) has17 g protein, 6 carbs, 24 vitamins & minerals and 105 calories. I really like how low calorie this drink was for the amount of protein I was getting! They are also pretty low in fat (2.5 g per packet) and low sugar (5 g carbs, 1 from sugar). Note: This product contains milk and soy products.

So now is your chance to try Gotein! To enter into this giveaway for a sample packet of all three flavors do any of the following things (leave a message for each):

I will randomly choose a winner after the holiday weekend on Tuesday (July 5th) at 5 pm! Side note: to be eligible for this giveaway you must have a US mailing address. You can go back up and read the rest of the post now ;-)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Workout
I don't normally do this, but I would like to start adding this in weekly...a weekly fitness plan! I normally have some idea of what I am going to do before I do the workout, but this way I can look back and check out my progress. Another reason is because I want to build up my running mileage, which I have been saying for a while, but hopefully physically writing it down I will actually do that. Hold me accountable guys! So without further ado here is this week's plan...

Monday- 2 mile run (spent most of the day working on my project, I'll make up for it later in the week)Tuesday- 4 mile run (check!), 10 laps in the pool (check!), afternoon strength work out (check!), extra unplanned 30 minute bike ride (check!)Wednesday- 3.5 mile run, yoga (not sure how long yet, I'll be doing an online video)Thursday- Strength workout, basketball game (My league starts this week! Wahoo!!)Friday- 5 miles (hopefully I'm not too sore from the game)Saturday- 30-45 minutes cross training

Total miles: 14.5

Bites
Breakfast was a bowl of Fruit Loops, I know pure sugar. I don't normally have this stuff, but when my cousin was here last week she left a ton of her snacks/food here. I took a bunch home, but I still had some. These are all things that I like and used to eat, but they aren't really good things for you. Look at all the stuff she left me!

Don't worry there were also some apples and milk in the refrigerator too! I took full advantage of those apples for a mid morning snack.

Rewind...After my run and 5 minute swim... don't judge me, I'm not a swimmer (clearly) lol!...I put a a little protein in my body for recovery.

Can anyone guess what this mystery protein drink is? I will be doing a giveaway tomorrow of this mystery protein drink! The first person who correctly guesses what this protein mix is I will give you a free entry! Be sure to stop back tomorrow to enter in the giveaway and to find out what it is!

The rest of my eats are not worth mentioning other than I ate like total crap today. My day was really snacky and I felt like most of my snacks we not good ones, thanks to the left over stuff above. Anyway, tomorrow's a new day!

Monday, June 27, 2011

As promised, my RCU Charity Classic 10K race review, but first I wanted to show you a few more pictures from Sunday Funday!

We went mini golfing yesterday in the early afternoon to continue Sunday Funday!

Action City

Look closely... What do you see?

Diving in the pond

Winner

<3

Somehow, he won... I still think he cheated ;)

Official score card holder

Mini Golf!

After mini golfing we got a call from his parents and we headed up to Lake Wissota to meet them out on their boat!

We love us some good sun time!

How did you spend your Sunday Funday? What are some of your favorite summer activities?

**********

On to the race review!

The RCU Charity Classic is a race put on in my hometown by my local bank. The race is a smaller one with under 850 participants in the four races (10K, 2 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile). All proceeds from the races go to the Community Table in Eau Claire and St. Vincent de Paul Food Shelf in Rice Lake (a town about an hour north of us).

The course is described as such...

The 10K race will feature a new course in 2011. The 10K race course showcases all three of Eau Claire's main parks, Owen, Carson and Phoenix Park, as well as views of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers. The course incorporates a part of the Chippewa River Recreational Trail that runs within the city. The terrain is generally flat with a few gentle, undulating hills and welcome shade.

They really did a good job of describing the course! Now on to the positives and negatives of the race...

Positives

Great enthusiasm and support at the finish/start line (for the most part- see below)

They did not know what mile we were on and there was no enthusiasm from them at all

Although the course was beautiful it could have used some excitement (ie: music, noise makers, etc)

Not much camaraderie between runners

This one was my biggest issue with the race coordination....Since this event had 4 races being run Saturday morning, there were scheduled start times (which is great), however, they sang the National Anthem before the 8 am start time of the 10K and come 9:30 am (start time of the 2 mile) they sang it again! Now I am all for being patriotic and doing the National Anthem, my problem comes in where they are singing the National Anthem for the second time, the crowd (at the finish line) is silent for the song... and for some of the 10K finishers. I thought this was absolutely unnecessary and rude. For a lot of those people crossing the finish line at that time this was probably either their first 10K or it was a big accomplishment that they were finishing and here they had NO ONE cheering them on because the National Anthem was playing. Now like I said I have no problem with the song being played, but like in other events (ie: double header baseball or basketball game/tournament, or the Olympics) the National Anthem is played once at the very beginning of the event. Okay I'm done venting on that subject.But really, am I overreacting on this?

The tortoise and the hare showed up for the kids races!

I know my negatives far outweigh my positives, but despite that, I did enjoy the challenge of my first 10K! I actually found this distance to be much more difficult that my 5K and half marathon distances, I think because I feel like I can run faster and get caught up in all the runners' paces around me. What do you think is the toughest distance to run competitively? I knew mile 3 that I was going faster than my normal pace, because I wanted to stop and walk. But I told myself no, the only walking I'll be doing is at the water stations while I'm drinking my water. Do you stop and walk at water stations or do you run through them? I also wanted to stop and walk at mile 4, 5 and 6, but once again I told myself, "no, you are NOT stopping". My mantra that kept me going was very simple, but just what I need apparently, Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. When I hit mile 5 I was hoping to be able to kick it in second gear, like I did for the last 2 miles of my half marathon, but I just couldn't do it. So I told myself as long as you just keep this steady pace across the finish line you'll be fine and make you goal time of 57 minutes. Well I kept that pace for the majority of the last mile and a half, but with .2 miles left I turned it up a notch (thanks for the cheering random people!) and sprint through the finish line.

I ended up in 204th place out of 411 10K-ers

Thanks to my awesome running crew of old work friends that ran the 10K with me! (I told you the shirt would make an appearance at the race!)

Overall, although I did not care for all of the logistics of the race, I did enjoy the course and the nice location to spend time with my friends before and after the race. I also liked that they geared this to be a family event with the various levels of races. However, I probably won't run this one next year unless I have my friends running with me again.

Did anyone else run any races over the weekend?

I'm hoping to have this race posted on my official "Race" page this week, but in the mean time check out the new Laugh of the Week!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday has always been designated as Funday, Sunday Funday that is, for my boyfriend and I, however, since we have a long distance relationship, I sometimes need to have Sunday Funday by myself. Today's Sunday Funday activity included these...

So what is my new favorite Sunday activity you ask? Running to a nearby coffee shop and enjoying it on my walk back home! Today's run was pretty short, which was okay since I ran the RCU 10K yesterday (race recap coming soon!), about a half mile. I have never been to this place, probably because it is a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but a family friend of mine was sitting outside eating and I told them my mission to get coffee. They told me to walk through the restaurant they were eating at (The Nucleus) and go to the back, where Racy's Coffee Shop was... like I said hole-in-the-wall. The service was a little slow, but it was Sunday brunch hour and was fairly busy, so I won't hold it against them :) But, got me my iced coffee!

Oh yeah, and I'm a frequent buyer card holder now... that will get put to use since it's pretty close to what will be my new apartment when I move back to Eau Claire.

Iced coffee w/almond flavoring

I didn't stay long since I ran there, but next time I actually stop and sit down for a bit I will take some pictures, because it's kind of a cool little cozy place. Alright off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday Funday doing homework and waiting for my man to get back to town! What are you doing on this fine Sunday Funday?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Yesterday was a BIG step in my life as a foodie/fitness blogger! Guess what I finally purchased!?! These...

I was SO excited to try these in my overnight oats this morning! I have been wanting to try these forever, but I finally caved in and bought some yesterday. Want to know what the finally string was for me to buy the seeds? Yesterday I worked an outdoor event and the group we put the event on for had a camp fire going. Smoke from the campfire blew in my eye for 5 hours of my 6 hour shift. By the fifth hour I had practically rubbed my eyes out of their socket and decided enough was enough! I asked my boss if it would be okay if I left an hour early since things were really slow anyway, and he was totally okay with it. A couple days ago I read this post from the Fitnessista that mentioned that chia seeds can help with joint and eye lubrication! SOLD! Reading that was all I needed to hear. I have issues with dry eyes and I figured I may as well try chia seeds to see if they would make any difference and since I've been wanting to try them anyways I said I'd get them next week. I did not expect to buy them this quickly though! But when I came home from work yesterday I headed straight to the co-op to buy chia seeds (after I tore my contacts out that is). Who knew going to work today would result in this great buy?!

My package of chia seeds wasn't too terribly expensive considering how long it will probably take me to eat the bag, just under $8. It recommend eating one tablespoon everyday, so that is my goal and I'm begging hoping this will help my eyes dryness out. Anyone out there heard of this benefit from eating chia seeds? I read the back of the package and found the history of chia seeds (according to the Spectrum Essentials package)...

Grown in Mexico, Chia was a diet staple of the Aztecs and Mayans. The seed's nutrients provided sustained energy during long hunts and had numerous medicinal benefits. Revered by the people, Chia was often used in religious ceremonies which led to its ban by the Spanish during their conquest.

I thought this was very interesting and shared the roots of the health benefits of eating them. I plan on using my seeds in smoothies, oats, yogurt, and some baked goods! Any other suggestions of how to use them? The lady at the co-op told me to go home and put some in a bowl and add water and just watch the seeds because they are so cool and you can eat drink them like that. So of course I did! It was kind of cool to watch and not all that bad to consume in that form. I don't know that I would eat them regularly soaked in just water, but they weren't too shabby.

Guess what else I finally purchased?!
Tahini! Whoop, whoop! I have been wanting to make my own hummus for ages, but never have because I didn't have or know what that one weird ingredient (tahini) was. Well I still don't really know what it is or what it's like, but at least now I have it! My plan is to try making some hummus once I finish up my store bought hummus that's in the refrigerator. I'll be sure to update you on my final product. Is there anything else I can use tahini for? Does it need to be refrigerated? (It was not in the cooler section when I bought it.)

Fun Stuff

Here are a couple of fun things...

What I made at work yesterday... spin art & a sandy stick (aka a pixie stick),
not sure what I'm going to do with my stick since I don't like them, but I wanted to make one :)

Maybe I could sell this for big bucks, no?

And finally, tell me you don't want to win these pants and I will fight you ;) Get over to Hungry Runner Girl's blog to sign up to win a pair of Lola Running Capris!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hi all my lovely readers, today's post comes from one of the blogs that I love and regularly read, Amazing Assets! In my plea for someone to guest post today (I'm trying to follow my own stress management tips!), Tessa graciously accepted the task and came up with a great topic to discuss...refueling! Without further ado...

Hi There! My name is Tessa and I write a blog called Amazing Asset, where I talk about my passion for nutrition, running, and fitness, but also my recovery from years of disordered eating. I have come such a long way from the darkest years of my life, but it has not been an easy journey. Taking each day one at a time, and listening and accepting support from my family, friends, the blogging community, and my own will to get better, has made my recovery possible.When Mackenzie asked me to write a guest post for her while she was having a rather busy work, I happily agreed and was rather honored :) Today's chat, the importance of refueling!It was actually last week, when I wrote my first 'What I Ate Wednesday' post, that I realized how far I have come with proper refueling and being more comfortable eating what my body NEEDS. That morning, as with most recently, I had oatmeal and a fat in the form of almond butter. There was also fruit present, but it was not the entire meal and I was representing all of the essential food groups.Prior to realizing how much I needed to let my food obsession go, I would never anything substantial after a workout. My “meal” would usually consist of an apple, a crap load of carrots (to feel full), grapes, berries, pineapple and several other kinds of fresh fruit that is in season during the summer. It was never a problem eating this type of food because everything tasted so fresh. However, you can’t live off fruit, especially when exercising and when protein is essential for your health.

From the Livestrong website, during intense exercise, such as heavy strength training, a process called catabolism occurs, in which muscle tissue breaks down. Before your body can adapt to the stresses of a workout, it first has to repair the damage to your muscles. Once the catabolic damage has been repaired, super-compensation occurs, and your body improves its condition in readiness for another workout by making your muscle fibers bigger and stronger. This process requires dietary protein. After strength training, your muscles are in need of protein or, more specifically, the amino acids found within protein foods. Consuming protein rich foods with a versatile list of amino acids is the most beneficial for your body when you eat immediately after.

Last summer when I would complete workouts similar to the one above with the addition of a 4 or 5 mile run BEFORE and minimal stretching after, I never refueled properly. I was trying to lose weight, which I did, but couldn’t understand why I was not building more muscle.

Essentially I was deteriorating my muscles which no amount of extra weight training could fix. I needed FOOD to rejuvenate and repair my body after a strenuous ordeal I had put it through.

Since becoming more rational, I have properly refueled after every workout and am noticing such a difference! I have building muscles once again, especially in my legs, shoulders and arms, and it’s honestly exciting and rewarding to see.

If you are trying to lose weight, whether you need to or not, please don't do what I did. If I continued exercising and eating the way I was, I would have steadily continued to waste my muscles away, those precious tissues that cannot be replaced. Do you really want to be thin, at the cost of becoming a withered, feeble, fragile person? I sure don't!

Thanks so much for sharing you experiences with us Tessa! If you have any questions about Tessa's guest post on refueling feel free to contact her here!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My life has been slightly stressful with more things that I need to do than I have time for. My main stress producer? My major presentation for my summer class is on Tuesday, which I have not had time to to work on since I have been cousin sitting the past week and coaching basketball camp. As great as both of those are, they have left me minimal time to do the readings, research and project work that I need to do. Okay, enough bickering, what needs to get done will get done... that's just how I roll :) So with stress in my life I thought I would share with you my top 35 stress management tips.

My cousin and her friend

Go to bed on time.

Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

Say "no" to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

Delegate tasks to capable others.

Simplify and unclutter your life.

Less is more (although one is often not enough, two are often too many).

Carry a paperback with you to read while your waiting. (I keep one in my purse at all times!)

Get enough exercise!!!!

Eat right!

Get organized so everything has its place.

Listen to relaxing music while driving. (Warning; don't do when tired)

Write things down.

Everyday, find time to be along for "you time".

Talk to a supportive friend or counselor if you are having problems.

Make friends with happy, positive people.

Keep a folder of favorite cartoons or funny short stories on hand.

Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.

Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.

Laugh some more.

Take your work seriously, but yourself not at all.

Develop a forgiving attitude.

Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it).

Sit on your ego.

Talk less; listen more.

Slow down.

Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe!

Everything before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

How do you beat stress? Do you use any of these tips?

Update

Those of you who read my post last Friday know that I stupidly twisted my ankle. My speedy recovery plan seemed to have worked... or at least enough for me to feel confident about my ability to run the 10K on Saturday! Although my ankle was sore on Friday, the extensive icing and biking only workouts so far this week helped my ankle recover pretty quickly. Yay for recovery!

Monday, June 20, 2011

I love the weekends, especially when they involve wonderful family and great food...

The weekend started off with a great day at the ball field!

Happy Father's Day Dad! My man and I decided to treat our dads (mine is the one on the right that looks like Ron Gardenhire) to a day at the Twin's ballpark for Father's Day on Saturday :)

Sunday we took a trip to my grandparents for a little Father's Day brunch. It wouldn't be a Bien get together if there weren't enough food to feed an army! On the menu was fresh fruit, quiche (spinach, ham and cheese x 2), monkey bread x 3 (some sort of competition going on), over night French toast bake, sausage, and juices. Wonderful menu along side a great day of cards, H.O.R.S.E. and many other games :)

It doesn't end here though.... We headed back to Eau Claire and hung out with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

And then some physical activity. My niece and nephew are going to go pro some day ;)

This Week

This week I will be busy tizzy! My cousin and her friend are coming to visit for the week (in fact they will be here any minute) to go to a basketball camp that I am helping out at. I am really looking forward to spending some time with here since I don't see her very much. If I am lacking in the posting department that is why! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

It says you should eat 1-4 of these blocks depending on the intensity of the workout. I figured since I was planning on heading out for a 6.5 miler, that I would have 2 and save the other 2 for my 10K next weekend.

Gatorade counts the 4 bite size bars as 1 serving. 1 serving has 240 calories, 9 g fat, 35 g carbs (3 fiber) and 8 g protein). As far as flavor goes (these were blueberry almond oat) I had high expectations because I like anything almond, but I give these two thumbs down for flavor. Maybe other flavors are better?

Out the door for a 6.5 mile run with my Nike +

This is where things started to go downhill for me. My run was not a pretty one, nor was it as long or as fast as I anticipated. I made far too many water breaks since it was so hot. We really haven't had that many warm days up here in WI, so my body hasn't adjusted to summer running weather yet. Anyway I really wanted to stop around mile 2 and 3 and 3.5, basically most of the time, but I told myself, "no you need this run, you need to mentally get through this no matter how long it takes you", because my mental game was really what was holding me back. So I trucked on until about mile 3.85, when I twisted my ankle on a pine cone (on the sidewalk). Who does that?! (Me apparently!) I called it a day on that. Luckily I wasn't too far from my apartment, since I was running loops instead of my normal out-and-backs.

Despite this being terrible timing and a totally unfortunate event, I am thankful that it wasn't too bad. I have had my fair share of sprained, twisted and tweaked ankles from playing basketball and I'm pretty sure this is a minor twist that just stretched my ligaments out a little bit. There was no major swelling, if there's any you can't really see it.

Looks like my seasoning blend will finally be put to good use! So since I have a 10K next weekend, which I am still planning on running, I am going to be taking it pretty easy. My game plan for the next week is to ice, ice, ice and do limited weight bearing activities, meaning there will be a lot of biking (like) and swimming (hate). Okay I don't hate swimming, I'm just really not good at it.

Food for thought... As you read previously I really wanted to stop running, but I told myself no just keep going. Part of me is kicking myself for not stopping, because then this would not have happened. But the other part of me says, it's a good thing you kept going because you need to work on your mental game (needs some serious work), and by giving up on runs all the time I am not going to do that. I am all about listening to my body, but I don't think I've been doing enough training that my body really needed a break, I think my brain was just being a whiny baby. I'm kind of torn on my feelings towards what I did today. What do you think? Do you just give up on your workouts saying you need a break or do you try to push through for mental toughness?

WEEKEND PLANS

You won't see much of me around the blogging world this weekend because I will be....

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About Me

Hi! My name is Mackenzie, I am 25 years old. I am currently working towards my Masters degree in Human Performance! I love making new recipes, being outdoors and am just recently getting into running races!

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Disclaimer

Please remember that I am not a nutritionist or health specialist. I graduated with a Bachelors in Sport Management and will soon have a Masters in Human Performance, but am by no means a expert. Please consult a doctor before trying any of my tips or workouts. The items on my blog are things that work for me and things that I enjoy. Hope you can enjoy some of them too! If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to e-mail at myfoodevents@gmail.com. Thanks and come again!